Rotation sensor for a crown of an electronic watch
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsRichard A. Davis, Cole J. Bowden, Craig A. Horton, Ming Kun Shi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electronic watch may include a housing and a crown configured to receive a rotational input. The crown may include a knob external to the housing, a rotor coupled to the knob and configured to rotate in response to the rotational input, the rotor defining a recess extending about a circumference of the rotor, and a coating positioned in the recess and configured to reflect at least a portion of light incident on the coating. The electronic watch may further include an optical sensing system configured to detect the rotational input using the reflected portion of the light.
Claims20
An electronic watch comprising:
- a housing;
- a crown configured to receive a rotational input and comprising:
- a knob external to the housing;
- a rotor coupled to the knob and configured to rotate in response to the rotational input, the rotor defining a recess extending about a circumference of the rotor;
- and
- a coating positioned in the recess and configured to reflect at least a portion of light incident on the coating;
- and
- an optical sensing system configured to detect the rotational input using the reflected portion of the light.
A wearable electronic device comprising:
- a housing having a side wall and an opening in the side wall;
- a crown configured to receive a rotational input and comprising:
- a knob positioned along a side of the housing;
- a shaft assembly coupled to the knob and extending through the opening in the side wall;
- and
- a coating positioned in a recess defined along a circumferential surface of the shaft assembly and configured to reflect light;
- and
- an optical sensing system configured to:
- receive the light reflected from the coating;
- and
- detect the rotational input using the light reflected from the coating.
An electronic watch comprising:
- a housing;
- a crown configured to receive a rotational input and comprising:
- a rotor configured to rotate in response to the rotational input and defining a recess extending about a circumference of the rotor;
- and
- a reflective material positioned in the recess;
- and
- an optical sensing system configured to:
- direct light onto the reflective material;
- receive a reflected portion of the light, the reflected portion of the light reflected from the reflective material;
- and
- determine a characteristic of the rotational input based on the reflected portion of the light.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.